Piercing Shop in Hicksville, vatStateShort

Valentine Hicks, son-in-law of abolitionist and Quaker preacher Elias Hicks, and eventual president of the Long Island Rail Road, bought land in the village in 1834 and turned it into a station stop on the LIRR in 1837. The station became a depot for produce, particularly cucumbers for a Heinz Company plant. After a blight destroyed the cucumber crops, the farmers grew potatoes. It turned into a bustling New York City suburb in the building boom following World War II. The hamlet was named for Valentine Hicks.

In 1953, Hicksville attempted to incorporate itself as the Incorporated Village of Hicksville. Many residents felt that by incorporating as a village, the community would be run more effectively than by the Town of Oyster Bay. A petition had been signed with 6,242 signatures from residents in favor of the plan.

However, these plans were unsuccessful, and Hicksville remains an unincorporated area of the Town of Oyster Bay to this day, as of 2023.